The Idaho Potato Commission is commemorating its 75th anniversary and hoping to dispel some bad press for potatoes by taking a lifelike, six-ton spud on a seven-month, 32-state tour.

The Big Idaho Potato departs the state Capitol Friday morning with a ribbon-cutting ceremony by Gov. Butch Otter. The building-sized potato that was first seen at the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl will be making stops that include Chicago, New York, Washington, Denver and Los Angeles.

The Idaho Statesman reports (http://bit.ly/H3f8lP ) that one stop will be outside the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where officials last year questioned whether potatoes should be included in school lunches and banned it from the food stamp program.

The public can trace the route on the Big Idaho Potato's website, http://www.bigidahopotato.com